Low and Slow

There is one very good reason why I will never be a top chef and this is because I am so sensitive to onions that when I cut them I have to wear swimming goggles or i'll literally be in so much pain I won't be able to open my eyes. So sensitive am I, I am the only person I know who cries when they cut leeks! This has always been one of the main reasons why I have avoided cooking anything remotely fancy as every recipe i've ever read requires at least 1 chopped onion.

As I await the return of my jaded husband from his night out on the tiles I have decided to prepare a beef casserole in my favourite kitchen appliance, the Crock Pot or as Matthew calls it ... the Crack Pot! For those of you who don't know this gem of a device the slow cooker is an exceptional piece of equipment and the perfect instrument for busy mums or people with a tendency to over cook things. Simply chuck all the ingredients in the pot in the morning, switch it on and hey presto 8 hours later you have the most amazing meal, with meat that just falls apart in your mouth. As my local butcher quite appropriately put it when I asked him how to cook my chuck steak, 'low and slow'.

This particular recipe is one that I have used before and is taken from one of my best-loved magazines, Hello! It requires very little effort except for maybe rolling the steak around in plain flour before browning.

It really is a joy knowing that when it comes to 5pm I won't have to balance a recipe book in one hand and Holly in the other, all I need to do is mash some potatoes and serve ... long live the Crack Pot!